A rare meeting between two entertaining competitors in Andy Murray and Philipp Kohlschreiber is scheduled to take place in the third round of the French Open on Saturday. This is just the second time these two athletes cross paths on the professional circuit, with Kohlschreiber leading the head-to-head series 1-0.

British No. 1 Andy Murray arrived at the third round at Roland Garros with an impressive performance against Australia’s Marinko Matosevic. Murray conceded a mere seven games in the entire match, as he beat Matosevic 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 58 minutes. Murray hit 31 winners to his 22 unforced errors, and also benefited from 39 unforced errors from the Australian.

“It was a good serving performance today, especially when I was down in games,” said Murray. “In the game I got broken right at the end, it was not down to my serving, really. I just missed a few other shots. I was just trying to make sure that my intensity was there every moment, especially at the beginning of the sets. I managed to get ahead early in all of them, and that helped.”

Quick Facts:

Andy Murray has not won a title since winning the Wimbledon Championships in 2013.

Murray has never won a clay court title in his professional career.

Murray’s opponent, 28th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, defeated Denis Istomin 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-2 to reach the third round of the tournament. The German hit 34 winners to his 18 unforced errors – a clean performance to comfortably set up the match-up with the Briton.

“It will be a very tough match for me,” said Murray. “I played him once before on clay and I think I got three games. It will be very tough. He obviously won the tournament [in Dusseldorf] last week. He’s not dropped a set here, I don’t think. He’s a very good player.”

This is just the second time these two competitors will cross paths on the tour, and will not be an easy contest for the British No. 1. He has been dealt no favours against his German adversary, who holds a win over Murray back in 2010 on this same surface. While Murray is capable of overcoming the tough battle, he will need to play a clean match-up and remain focused for what could be a long, grueling battle.

Prediction: Andy Murray in Four Sets

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